Hans Holbein the Younger

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-November 1543) was a German Renaissance painter.

Biography
Hans Holbein the Younger was born in Augsburg, Holy Roman Empire in 1497, the son of Hans Holbein the Elder. He worked mainly in Basel as a young artist, painting murals and religious works and designing stained glass windows and printed books. When the Reformation reached Basel, Holbein worked for both reformist and traditionalist patrons, and he developed his own aesthetic style. In 1526, he travelled to England in search of work, with a recommendation from Desiderius Erasmus. He was welcomed into the humanist circle of Thomas More, and he became King's Painter to King Henry VIII in 1535 after being patronized by Queen Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell. He famously painted portraits of the royal family and made festive decorations for jewellery, plate, and other precious objects. He died in London in 1543.